Respect for Greens

You have to smile at John Rees trying to argue that Respect outperformed the Greens in the local elections (Letters, May 8). Respect fielded 45 candidates for over 10,000 council seats and managed to get three people elected. Even some residents' associations manage to make more of a dent on the national political landscape than that. The Green party, on the other hand, is developing as a truly national force, with over 1,400 candidates in an election that saw the number of Green councillors go up from 93 to 119.

As well as making breakthroughs in places like Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leicester and Liverpool, Greens are now a significant force on several local authorities, including 12 Greens in both Brighton and Lancaster and 10 Greens in Norwich. The only two parties to make real net gains last Thursday were the Greens and the Conservatives. With both Labour and Lib-Dems sustaining heavy losses, the Greens are becoming the party of choice for more and more progressive voters.Cllr Darren JohnsonAssociation of Green Councillors

You suggested last Thursday that Labour might retake Leicester. In fact we bucked the national trend and gained 18 seats to take control from the Lib Dem-Conservative alliance.Cllr Mary Draycott Deputy leader, Leicester council